


Ocean's Desire

by Picaresca



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Amrod Survives, Beaches, Blood Pacts, Burning of the Ships at Losgar, Celtic Mythology & Folklore, Curses, F/M, First Kinslaying (Tolkien), Ireland, Memory Loss, Monster Hunters, Near Death Experiences, Ocean, Redemption, Repressed Memories, Selkie Amrod, Selkies, Singing, Transformation, Ulmo cares for the elves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-02-25 23:17:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18711691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Picaresca/pseuds/Picaresca
Summary: Amrod was meant to die at the burning of the Teleri Ships in Losgar, however, Ulmo had different plans.Melkor had invaded his domain and he needed to get rid of them, using his own creatures.  Having a former ellon amongst them would not come amiss.  So he offers a curse strong enough to counteract any oaths he had made.Now, many centuries later, and having forgotten he was ever an elf, Amrod's life is about to change again on an Irish shore.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the same universe and timeline that Dark Desire, although that work is not referenced here.

Pityafinwë was not certain what exactly had awakened him, whether it was the light or the heat. His eyes stung with the smoke and his lungs burned whenever he tried to breathe.  There was light everywhere but he could not see anything. There was too much heat around him.

 

He tried to scream, but smoke and ashes filled his lungs, making him fall to his knees coughing.

 

Where was his father?

 

Where was his twin?

 

Where were all his older brothers?

 

Nelyo? Moryo? Anyone?

 

He stood again and had to take a step back as the fire kept advancing towards him.

 

What had happened?

 

What had begun the fire?

 

He had to make it to the door, and fast.

 

He had meant to sneak back into the ship… he wanted nothing more than to go back to Valinor… back to his mother.  He was willing to beg for forgiveness on his knees if only to escape the terrifying fate that was presented to him right now.

 

A board from the roof above him fell next to him, burning his clothes and hurting him in the process he tried to run and managed to reach the door, but no sooner had he touched it to open than he removed his hand, hissing in pain.

 

He took a few steps back, feeling the growing head of the fire spreading around him.

 

Panic was rising like vile up his throat.

 

He took a deep breath to try and scream for help, but before he could call out any name or any other word, he fell down to his knees coughing harshly.  His lungs and throat felt dry and raw.

 

The heat kept rising around him as the flames got closer.

 

With one last desperate attempt to flee the hell around him, he managed to get back on his feet crashed through the door, only to find a greater fire rushing towards him.

 

There was no way out.

 

He was trapped.

 

His eyes were stinging from the heat and smoke, and filled with tears.

 

He had to find a way out if he did not want to die.

 

He did not want to die.

 

Pityo ran through the flames, trying to remember the layout of the boat.  There had to be a way up.  If he could make it up, he would be able to jump off the boat and swim to the shore.

 

His father would be there, and his brothers.

 

They were probably worried about him.  He hoped his father would not be angry over the loss of a boat.  He had to explain that he had not caused the fire.  That it had been an accident.

 

He tumbled around, trying to avoid the flames, to reach the stairs that should take him outside.  If he managed to make it outside, he would be able to leave the ship and reach safety. In the semi-darkness filled with fire and smoke, nothing seemed to make much sense… but somehow he managed to reach the stairs.

 

He climbed one step and then another, burning his hands in the process of reaching the top until he managed to crawl on the deck of the ship. The flames were far more spread, but the smoke was far less dense.

 

The cool air of the night felt balsamic against his tormented lungs.  He managed to regain his footing and tried to take a step forward.

 

The wood under his feet groaned before breaking and taking him once more to the nightmarish hell below. One floor and then another broke under his weight, hurting his back and bruising his skin. He felt something cracking in his back and then he could not move his body below that point… the upper part of his back, however, was in agony… the world seemed to go in slow motion as he fell, helpless, through the boat wreckage and into the sea below.

 

Pityo felt his back crashing against the water and felt all air leave his lungs at the impact.

 

It felt like ice compared to the fiery hell he had just escaped.

 

His mind went numb and his body began to sink.

 

Saltwater and soot burned in his nose.

 

He could see the orange glow of the flames above him, but he could not move. He could not get his arms to swim and carry him to safety.

 

Was this how he was meant to die?  Drowning the very same day they arrived in these new lands?  He had only wanted to go back to his mother.

 

His whole body began to grow numb with cold and the pain began to recede. He was losing consciousness and fast…

 

Please… help…

 

He was not certain if he felt or imagined several warm, soft, furry bodies pressing against him and taking him down into the bottomless ocean…

 

Pityo tried in vain to cling onto awareness… he was dying… he knew he was dying… and he knew that the only thing awaiting him was the Void.


	2. Chapter 2

_His body is broken…_

_He is little more than a pup…_

_Why are we taking him to Master?_

_Master wants him._

_He smells nice…._

_Do you think Master will heal him?_

_He must be kind…_

_He is different…_

_He smells different from others…_

_Is this a quendi pup?  He is too big for it…_

_Master! Master!_

_Will you heal the quendi pup?_

_We brought him as you ordered!_

_He is wounded, Master!_

_His bones are broken! His skin is hurt!_

_What will you do with him, Master?_

A whole choir of soft childish voices filled his slowly emerging awareness, but these voices were sounding inside his mind rather than his ears.  He briefly wondered who they were, but could not bring himself to worry much, weak and tired as he was.

 

He just wanted to lose his mind to numbness and silence, to lay quiet until his body and soul healed from all pain.

 

Pityo’s body began regaining sensibility with his returning consciousness.

 

He could feel the multiple burns in his body, some on his back or his face, but most were on his arms and legs. His back hurt as if someone had stabbed him between the bones of his spine.

 

Multiple nuzzles were pressing tentatively against him all over his body. It reminded him of Huan and tied to that memory was the memory of Tyelcormo.  The thought of his older brother and his dog brought him a measure of peace and helped him calm down enough to continue analyzing the situation he was in.

 

The mild points of light that he could see through his closed eyelids seemed subdued and gentle compared to fires that he had managed to escape earlier.  Another contrast was that everything around him felt cold… and wet. It helped him soothe the pain of his burns. He could also feel no pressure on his back.

 

It felt almost as if he was floating underwater.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Ulmo took a physical form that would easily pass for one of his Maiar and ran his hand a few inches above Pityafinwë’s broken body, floating a foot above the floor of his underwater temple.  Broken spine, two fractured ribs, a punctured lung, all kinds of burns on his skin and his respiratory system, which was also clogged with soot.

 

He closed his eyes and winced, filled with pity for an elf that was little more than a child but had already so much blood on his hand and had also suffered through so much.

 

He had been against bringing the quendi to Valinor from the start.

 

This and many other things would not have happened if only his brethren had listened to him.

 

For all of his wisdom, Manwë was proud… way too proud and way too blind where Melkor was concerned.

 

“Time to wake up, little one…”

 

He ran his hand over Pityo’s body, healing him…

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The last thing he remembered was the fire on the boat… how had it begun?

 

His eyes shot open and he beheld one of Ulmo’s Maiar in front of him.

 

“That might have been your father, he burned all the boats” The being before him answered his thoughts and Pityo felt his stomach clench in fear.

 

His father? No! He would never do that! He would never try to kill one of his sons! No matter what! No!  It was a lie! Panic was rising inside him and making him lose control.

 

“Child! Child! Enough!” Large strong hands grabbed his shoulders and steadied him, “Calm down! Breathe!”

 

Pityo closed his eyes and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyelids, trying to block everything out.   He did not want it to be true!  He did not want any of it to be true!  Why would his father want to kill him?  Was it because he wanted to return? The elf collapsed on the floor, holding his head in his hands and succumbing to his desperation.

 

Ulmo rolled his eyes and shook his head, “Don’t be foolish! Your father never meant to kill you, and even if he had, he did not.”

 

The Vala sighed and placed his hand over Pityo’s head to calm him.

 

After a few wrecking sobs, the elf’s breath began to grow slower and deeper.  He raised his eyes and frowned in confusion. _Who was this? Why was he there? Why was he not dead?_

 

“I am someone who thinks a little bit different from the people up in Taniquetil… and therefore, wants to lend you a hand,” Ulmo explained before revealing himself to the elf before him.


	3. Chapter 3

 

Pityo looked at Ulmo with wide frightened eyes and tried to swim away with no results.  He was right to be frightened, after the massacre of Alqualondë. 

 

“You do well to fear my rage, little one.  Your actions ever since your grandfather's passing into Mandos are no pleasing to any of us… or to the eyes of Eru”.

 

Pityo closed his eyes and curled into a tight ball…

 

Pain and sorrow burned in his chest, along with shame and regret. His anger and rage were still there… the monster at Alqualondë had not been his father; his father would have never acted that way… not the father he knew, at any rate.

 

Yes, it had been his body… but the Fëanáro that he knew and admired and loved had died with Finwë.

 

And how could any of the Valar understand such a loss?  How do you explain the devastating ache of losing someone of your own flesh and blood when the Valar were not bound to flesh and blood?  Not like he was, not like his father was…

 

And how could they expect a little being such as they were to understand their great councils?

 

The Eldar lived for the moment. Of course, they would see the Valar’s lack of response as carelessness and indifference.  The fact that it was Manwë’s brother the one who had caused all of this mess only added insult to injury and cemented the idea that the Valar would gladly let their evil brother run amuck causing grief and strife amongst the Eldar.

 

His people had not needed a silent contemplative gathering, they had needed answers. 

 

They had received none.

 

And had the decisions of the Valar not hurt his family enough to also remain indifferent when one of their own acted like this?  And how could one control their actions when their hearts were filled with rage and agony… and fear?

 

There had been so much fear in the darkness…

 

And he… he only wanted to return to the days of his childhood before chaos came, but he knew in his heart it was not possible.

 

With a shiver, Pityo opened his eyes but said nothing.

 

Ulmo nodded slowly and let his eyes trail over the designs of his temple as if he were contemplating something very deeply.

 

“Yes, your feelings are valid and your observations make sense from where you stand.  I understand why you and your father and brothers would feel that way.  That was a huge part of the problem was it not?  Understanding… we did not understand each other’s actions and reasons,” Ulmo narrowed his eyes and the elf before him flinched, expecting to be struck death any second. “I am neither of my brothers, little one.  I mean no ill will to you or your people and I will not sit in contemplation while things spin out of control.  I would also like to think that I have a few more drops of compassion in me than Námo,”

 

 Pityo began to stretch his legs and arms, eying the being before him full of wonder and confusion.  Would he be forgiven?

 

“Not quite, child, but I am going to help you.  Because my heart is with the Eldar rather than with my brethren,” He stretched out his hand and brought the elf close to him. “But there _is_ a price to be paid for all you have done.”

 

 The Oath, the Kinslaying, the theft of the Swan Ships, the betrayal of the Nolofinwë’s people.

 

“Ah, yes, elfling, the list is long… not as long as your brothers will be, but still, you _must_ atone for it.”

 

Then why was he not in the void?  Why was he not dead?

 

Ulmo laughed with amusement and a hint of sarcasm.  “What good would it make to kill you?  Who will that help?  What comfort or goodness will come from your death?  It would be a wasteful and useless thing to kill you right now.”

 

The Vala sobered up and looked intently at the Pityo.

 

“You Pityafinwë, are going to make yourself useful, yes, very useful,  for you see, Melkor did not only destroyed and distorted the creatures of the land, but he also had the gall to release some nasty thing in my domains.”

 

Pityo felt a wave of revulsion at the thought of Morgoth´s evil spreading like a disease through land and sea.

 

“Yes, I feel the same, little one… but you are going to help me clean the waters,”

 

The elf nodded eagerly, ready to do whatever it took to right his wrongs. If he also managed to hurt or undo Morgoth´s evil plans in the process, even better.

 

“I will release you from the Oath, I will make you into one of my creatures, and you will live under my service and command.  You are banned from Aman so you will have to serve in Arda, you will learn to fight.”

 

Pityo nodded again.

 

“Are you certain?  This will be no easy feat, little one.   You might want me to send you straight to Mandos.”

 

He shook his head and raised his chin.  Going to Mandos meant staying there for eternity… he might not be able to see his brothers or his father again. He would not be reunited with his mother.

 

Not to mention that he would not be able to heal the pain and sorrow he had brought into the world.

 

He had to go through with this.

 

Ulmo laughed and nodded approvingly “You have the determination and an attitude. Good! You’ll need them!”

 

That said, he closed his eyes and placed his hand over Pityo’s forehead and hair.

 

Pityo felt a current of energy coursing through his system, starting where Ulmo was touching him.

 

If the elf could have screamed, he would have done so.

 

Everything burned inside him. The pain he was experiencing in every cell in his body was excruciating.  He felt as if his whole body was on fire.

 

His skin began to fall off in burned bits off his body and blood began seeping through his exposed muscles into the water surrounding him.  His body began to change and his limbs contorted into shortened, deformed versions of what they had been.  His nose and mouth began to grow long and his eyes became larger.

 

Brown bits of skin and fur began to grown on his changing body until he was fully covered in them.

 

The seal’s body stopped moving and slowly fell to the bottom of his temple, staying limp before him.

 

Ulmo waved over a cloister of shadows closer to him and one by one they approached him.  The seals swam around his body in greeting until he pointed at the one that had been an elf not long ago.

 

Curious nuzzles began probing him back into consciousness and encouraging him to swim.  Pityo looked around with his new eyes, getting used to his new body would not be an easy task… he would eventually forget he had ever been an elf.

 

Pityo tried to move and felt a wave of horror and fascination at his new shape.  He began to imitate the movements of the other seals but soon decided to just float where he was, too exhausted to move further.

 

“These are your new teachers,” Ulmo whispered and ran a hand comfortingly over Pityo’s head. “Listen to them, and do as they tell you.”

 

Pityo nodded once.

 

“Then you should have no trouble at all,” Ulmo turned to the other seals and wave them away, “Off with you lot! There is much to do”

 

The seals swam away and Pityo looked at him, expectantly, waiting for further instruction. Ulmo shook his head once and waved him to where the rest were.

 

“Do not make me regret this, little one.”

 

With those final words, the seal joined the rest of the group and followed them outside of the temple.

 

“You do realize, Master, that you only laid a curse on him?” A soft voice called next to him and Ulmo huffed, amused.

 

“Of course I did, Uinen!”

 

“Then?”

 

“It is powerful enough to counteract that accursed Oath… and when he is released, he will not have to worry about one or the other.”

 

“And who will release him?  No one amongst the Eldar will dare to try and break such a curse!”

 

Ulmo smiled and shrugged, “Then it will not be one of the Eldar who releases him.”

 

“ He will forget, eventually, his name, his family… there will come the time when he will forget he was ever an ellon,” She insisted and he nodded.

 

“I am counting on it.  It will help him fulfill his duty… and it will also heal the wounds of his soul.”

 

“You know how this will end, do you not?” Uinen asked him, taking a physical form next to him and looking at the entrance of the temple with wary eyes.

 

“Yes, I do. No, I will not tell you.” He answered before fading into the water.


	4. Chapter 4

He opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.  She was there again; he could smell her tears and her perfume in the air.  She had been coming to his beach for half a month now, almost daily.  He had only seen her from afar two or three times, but there was something about her that called out to him.  He could always feel when she was on the beach.

 

What it was, it was not particularly a mystery for him

 

He knew of the occasional dealings his people, the selkies, had had with humans.

 

One night of fun and pleasure and then they went back to the sea while the human in question stayed on the shore.  More often than not questioning what on earth had just happened and where on earth had their lover disappeared to.

 

The physical union was something other selkies enjoyed plenty, they seemed to thrive in it, and looked for it often.

 

Most jumped from bed to bed for centuries through their life until they found a mate of their kind and pledged their fidelity to them… if they ever did find a mate.

 

He had personally never indulged… something about the idea of just sharing his body with a random human did not sit well with him.  Yes, he had felt the desire and he had found any number of delightfully beautiful willing women walking down the shores… yet, none of them had truly tempted him. Neither had any of the multiple selkie maids that had often tried to seduce him into taking them as a life mate.

 

Not one had had an effect on him as this one had.

 

He took a deep breath to clear his head.  This silly little human girl would only bring him trouble.  He could tell.  It was plain as daylight.

 

She would, most likely, only hinder his mission.

 

A mission that, for him, was a priority...

 

He felt in his heart, a shame that burned and guilt that weighed his soul to the ground.  He was old for his people… way too old… the oldest selkie that he or anyone had ever known… most lived for 1,500 to 2,000 years and then pass away beyond the circles of the world.  He, on the other hand, had been around for nearly 10,000 years.

 

The world had changed around him multiple times and would continue to do so in the future.  There were few steady elements in his life, such as reporting to Ulmo and talking to his Maiar, mostly regarding his hunting mission.

 

He dived again underwater and began to swim away.  If he had been a different selkie, he would have pounced at the chance of taking her.  As it was, he had no time to fool around with this little human woman.

 

There was no time to indulge in the body of a human whom, compared to his years, was almost a baby. 

 

He had told himself that multiple times when he found himself returning to the group of rocks where she sat.

 

 _What are you doing? You big fool!_ A voice snarled inside his head… a voice that his subconscious mind identified as one of his older brothers… nevertheless, he could not remember ever having a brother.  He would have liked, though, to have at least one.

 

Things like that happened often to him. 

 

It was like his spirit remembered something that his mind had forgotten.

 

He climbed onto the rock in front of her and he saw her forlorn expression melt away into a smile.

 

His heart skipped a beat at the sight of it.

 

This was a sight he thoroughly enjoyed.  She waved at him and then laughed… he liked that sound.  He wanted to be the cause for it…

 

She seemed to look for something in her pocket as she advanced very slowly towards him.  Like she was trying not to startle him away…

 

Pretty, little, silly human…

 

If he had to guess, she believed him another common seal.  Humans had long locked themselves into their minds, shutting out anything they could not control or explain.  Everything that crossed those lines, they discarded as a joke or believed it a trick of their minds.

 

She pointed a small silver object at him and he stopped moving. Was it a weapon?  No, it did not look like it… he had seen those land at the bottom of the ocean before, and he had not been harmed by them.

 

He looked around to make sure she was the only person around, the fewer people that saw him transforming the better for everyone.

 

Her eyes became guarded as if she perceived something was off before backing away when he began shedding his skin.  She seemed frozen in place until he had left his skin behind to fully transform.

 

She screamed and began to back away from him, carefully at first; mindful of the slippery wet stones she was standing on.  Her eyes, wide with fear, were set on him.

 

She tried to run and managed to get a few steps in before slipping on the wet rocks.

 

He tried to grab her to spare her the blow, but a wave came crashing over them.

 

He winced, removing his red hair from his eyes and saw the woman, disoriented and clinging to consciousness, a few inches away.  There was a cut above her eyebrow, where her head had hit the rocks.

 

He better get her out of there before another wave came and dragged her down.  He grabbed his skin, and approached her, moving faster and more gracefully than she had.

 

She was lighter than he had expected as he lifted her in his arms.

 

There was something he very much enjoyed about having her weight in his arms as he took her to the soft sand of the beach.  The warmth of her body seeped through her wet clothes into his skin.


	5. Chapter 5

Sienna leaned back against the rocks and watched the waves crashing on the sand a few meters away to her left.  Whatever possessed her to accept her father’s suggestion to visit her grandmother in Achill?  There was nothing to see here!  Nothing to do!  She was bored as an oyster.  Except, perhaps, going to Keem beach, but that lost its charm after the third in a row day she had done it. 

 

It was the end of September.  She had been here for two weeks and had no hopes of leaving any time soon.

 

Oh, she could take her car and drive away, all the way back to Dublin. Back to life as she knew it, back to civilization. I was a little more than three hours behind the wheel.

 

Except… she really could not.  She could drive all right, and she could make it to Dublin and she could even walk into her old flat. Nevertheless, that would not give her back her job and that certainly could not afford her rent for her and her cat. In here, she only needed to worry about her savings being enough for cat food and her basic needs.

 

She wanted to cry, rant, and break stuff.  She wanted the world to know just how angry she was and she wanted the world to be angry as well.  She had worked for The Citizen newspaper for years, first as an office girl through college and then as an intern until they made her a reporter with a column of her own.  All of that had gone straight to hell after a new intern had offered herself to the boss. 

 

She was furious!  The talentless, brainless, dull arse of a 19-year-old had achieved the very thing she had worked so hard to get by simply opening her legs.  The fact that Arthur was not only the chief editor but also her fiancé only added insult to injury.  Well, no, that was not correct. He was not her fiancé… he was not even her boyfriend; he was her ex-boyfriend.

 

She had thrown all of his things out the window in garbage bags and if a thing or two had broken she did not care.

 

It was not like she had grabbed a hammer and took her rage out on his laptop… and his desktop… and his job phone… and his personal phone… and had taken a knife to his CD collection… and DVD collection… and had put balloons full of paint amongst his clothes as she threw them out the window in a bag. 

 

Who was she kidding? She had done all that and had stolen his dog that now lived a much better life in the country with her brothers, thank you quare much, with fresh homemade meals and plenty of fresh air and long walks.

 

She had left her ex-boyfriend alive… she had been merciful.

 

However, none of that made her feel good. No matter how much she took her rage out against his belongings, the pain and the heartache were still there, taunting her heart.

 

It was not fair. 

 

At least… at least she had not married him.  She kept telling herself that she was fortunate for finding out before she had done something incredibly stupid.  She had dodged a bullet and she should be grateful, but no matter how much she told these things to herself, she was still heartbroken.

 

She had left her parents farmhouse in Glencullen ten years ago, done with their small village lifestyle, and ran away to Dublin, to live the big life and make the big money.  And up until the start of September, when everything fell apart, she had not looked back… when her personal and professional life had fallen to pieces.

 

Therefore, out of job and not wanting to be out of money as well, Sienna had reached out to her parents.

 

That had been painful.

 

She had worked so hard! Still, all of her hard work and all her effort had only led her to this forsaken beach with nothing waiting for her back home except her cat and her grandmother’s lamb stew.  Not that she complained about that last part, actually. Sienna would be eternally grateful for Aislinn’s forgiveness and the acceptance and warmth she had offered her rebellious granddaughter when she took her in. It had been her father’s idea to send her to her grandmother.  She needed peace and space and distance.  She needed to heal and her grandmother’s farm in Achill would allow her to do so.

 

So far, the healing that she so desperately need had not arrived.

 

It was not that she did not love her family, she loved her parents and adored her brothers; it was that she had wanted more… so much more for her life than following in her mother’s footsteps and become a housewife in a small Irish town, becoming the wife of a man much like her brothers and father… live dull monotone life. It was not they were bad men or cruel or anything bad. It was that they had been born for the farm life… she had not.

 

She had left with the fantasy of someday coming back triumphant and glorious… and had instead returned with her tail between her legs.

 

The fact that they had welcomed her as if she had never left, no questions asked, no pressure, just love, understanding, and affection, made her loathe herself.  It made her feel like an ungrateful entitled little brat. Even when both of her brothers had been cold towards her for a few days, they had forgiven her quite fast. The fact that she had had to stop them from going to Dublin to kill Arthur painfully and slowly had made Sienna love them even more.

 

She winced and closed her eyes, thinking that she did not deserve her family. They were too good for her.

 

Sienna raised her head as a cold breeze blew over her, tangling her hair and whispering in her ear. There was something moving in the water.  The first true smile she had had in almost a month spread in her mouth as she recognized the animal that swam a few meters away from her. 

 

“A seal!” she waved at the animal and then laughed at how silly she must have looked, waving at a wild animal, but she didn’t care, “Hello, little fellow.  What are you doing here?”

 

Very carefully, Sienna tried to regain her feet and climb over the rocks, approaching the animal slowly to get a better look at it without scaring it.  She had not seen one since she was a child and she had always found them adorable. 

 

The seal raised its head from the water, it long whiskers falling to the sides of its long snout and stared intensely at her.  It looked around and began climbing on the lower rocks to get out of the water.  Its big round eyes displayed a cleverness she was not certain was natural to a seal, but she discarded the thought as a bout of paranoia.

 

She sighed in disappointment at not having any kind of treat to offer the seal but remained where she was, avoiding fast movements and committing the moment to memory.   Her Nanna would love this! Aislinn would be so happy when Sienna told her of this adventure.  Why had she not brought her camera?  Her cell phone! Her cell phone had a camera!  She reached into her pocket and unlocked her phone.  What a lovely thing to see!

 

“Stay still, little fellow, just a few seconds,” She whispered as she took a picture and then another. This was so much fun.

 

It was a good ending to a bad day, she guessed.  She would go directly to Aislinn’s house to tell her about the encounter, they would have dinner together and then talk some more about life.  Maybe they would even discuss her options for the future.

 

The seal turned his head to one side and then to the other before moving closer to her and a chill ran down her spine.

 

Something was off… that expression in the animal’s eyes was too damn human.  He looked too aware of their surroundings, of the fact that it was only the two of them at the beach. The seal began to crawl towards her.

 

She gasped in horror when she saw odd lumps beginning to form under the seal’s skin and its limbs deforming.  Sienna had never seen anything like this.  It was scary and it was decidedly abnormal, by any standards. 

 

What was going on?

 

She tried to regain her feet in order to walk her way back to the beach and make a run for her car, but she could not move.  She was too frightened and shocked to actually move.  There was no else with her, not this day and certainly not at this hour.  No one would ever hear her screaming for help or for any other reason.  Sienna was fully aware of this and that only added a sense of helplessness to her fear.

 

She gasped and tried to crawl back as the seal’s skin began to fall off and a man climbed out of it… a naked man.

 

Sienna screamed and tried to gain her feet to run and escape… whatever that thing was.  There was no way she alone could fight him off if he decided to attack her.

 

All of her life she had heard folk tales of faerie and other fantastic creatures who lured the incautious into an early grave with their charms.  Nonetheless, she had never believed in them.  Those things did not happen in real life, to real people.  Those were just cautionary tales to keep children away from rivers, forests, bogs, and other dangerous places.

 

A cold terror flooded her when he fixed his eyes on her.

 

In a second, she imagined all kind of terrible fates befalling her.  Everyone would think she had drowned, just another common accident.  No one would help her.  That’s why you should not go to the beach on your own.  And even if she made it out alive, no one would believe her.  She would end her days in a mental institution if she ever spoke of this to anyone.

 

She grasped a rock and managed to stand up.  If she made it out of the beach and into her car, she would be able to escape. 

 

She would never, ever again lay a foot on a beach… any beach… much less on her own.

 

One quick step, more of a jump, and then another towards the sand and away from the creature approaching her across the rocks.  Sienna glanced back and desperation took a hold of her when she realized she was within his reach.  No!  She had to push herself harder; she had to be faster than him. She moved her legs faster, her heart beating at full speed as desperation swelled like a balloon in her chest.

 

She felt her bare foot slide over a rock covered in moss and saw the rocks approaching her in slow motion.  The notion that she was falling sat like a stone in her stomach and her arms flayed, trying to find something to hold on to and stop her fall and finding only air.

 

Her head fell hard on a stone at the same time a wave covered her body.  Sienna felt the salt of the ocean filling her mouth and a burning sensation in her nose and throat, but she could not bring herself to care.

 

She was dizzy from the blow and could barely form a coherent thought.

 

She had to escape.  She had to get away.  She had to run…

 

Yet, for the life of her, she could not remember why or from what. 

 

A pair of strong arms pulled her up against a hard muscled chest and lifted her from the ground.  She leaned her head against him, as consciousness seemed to drift away.  The beat of his heart close to her ear lulled her and the scent of his skin soothed her.  He smelled of salt and something pleasant and masculine she could not identify.

 

Sienna felt her consciousness drifting off and struggled to hold on to it when he laid her down on the sand, beyond the reach of the waves.


	6. Chapter 6

He walked with her in his arms away from the rocks and laid her gently on the soft sand of the beach.  There was a small trail of blood where the rock had opened the skin of her forehead and she would gain a bump and a bruise from the fall, but she would be fine eventually.

 

He buried his fingers in her hair to search for more injuries and smiled when she leaned into his touch.

 

He ran his eyes over her features again and smiled.

 

No, she was not a legendary beauty, but she was… attractive?

 

Yes, she was pretty.

 

She was pretty… she would be pretty even amongst his people.

 

She had long black hair, thick and wavy, big blue eyes with specks of silver in them and a heart-shaped face.  Her eyes ran over his face, disoriented, and her thin lips parted in a shallow breath.

 

“Selkie” she gasped as her hand grasped his forearm, as if she was ready to push him away and run again, but she was too weakened to do so.

 

He laughed softly but did not move.  So the little human knew about his kind? Interesting…

 

Many humans only saw his kind as beings from tales.  Fictional and not something they should worry about.

 

“I will not hurt you,” he told her and she shook her head softly and tried to pull away from him without success.

 

“No, I will not,” he insisted.

 

She tried feebly to pull away once more before falling unconscious.

 

She had smiled at him when he had first crawled out of the water.  He wanted her to keep smiling; it had caused a warm feeling in his chest.  He wanted her to keep smiling for him… because of him.

 

He guessed this was what other selkies felt when they lusted after a human.

 

He briefly wondered what her reaction would be if he claimed then and there… but the idea of having intercourse with a barely conscious and wounded human did not sit well with him.  The guilt that he had even entertained that thought for a second sat heavy on his stomach.

 

If he was going to have her, he wanted her willing and responsive.

 

He removed her silk scarf from around her neck and pressed it gently against her forehead, cleaning the blood that was still flowing.  Head wounds tended to bleed a lot, he knew… he had dealt with quite a few himself.  She winced and frowned, focusing her eyes on him.  She tried to push him away again and this time she actually managed to push his hand from her forehead.

 

A noise made him raise his eyes and he saw a car driving into the car park of the beach.  He held back a groan and placed her scarf under her head as a pillow.

 

Just when she was regaining her senses…

 

Some other time, perhaps… if he had not scared her off from his beach.

 

 _Let it go, they’ll be able to help her better than you can…_ a female voice called in his mind and he winced.  _Yes_ , Uinen was right, he could do nothing more for her.

 

An older couple got out of the car and he barely had time to grab his seal skin and make a run for the ocean.

 

He heard his human groan as she tried to sit and held back the urge to return to her.

 

He dived deep in the water, getting into his seal skin as he swam and finding comfort in the familiar form and the camouflage it offered.  When he went up again, all they would be able to see was a curious animal approaching the shore.

 

He climbed on the rocks, just in time to see an older woman kneeling next to her human, pressing the scarf against the wound once more. The man was looking towards the sea, looking for his human form, which he had most certainly seen before as he walked down to the beach.

 

Ha!

 

The older woman said something to him and he winced, apparently giving up his search.  He leaned down and helped his human regain her feet and they walked slowly to their car.

 

He stayed long enough to see them settle inside and then drive off, probably to the closest town.

 

At the moment, he had a job to do and Uinen was going to have his skin, both seal and human if he did not do it.

 

* * *

 

Sienna was leaning softly against Mrs. Riley’s shoulder while Mr. Riley drove them to the clinic.  Her head hurt and the wound on her forehead was beginning to sting.  The Rileys...

 

Alicia and Roger were a marriage in their late 50s that lived in town and were good friends with her grandmother.

 

They had a picnic every Sunday at the beach so that probably was the reason they had been there.  And she was grateful to all saints that they had arrived in time to rescue her from… from whatever it was that she had found on the beach.  If they had been five minutes later than they were, though… she would have been in very deep trouble.

 

“We’re almost there, darling, don’t fall asleep.  We’re almost there.” Roger told her from behind the wheel.

 

Sienna nodded weakly and Mrs. Riley squeezed her hand.  “What were you doing on the beach, dear?”

 

She knew Alicia Riley didn’t really care; she was most likely trying to keep Sienna awake on their way to the doctor.  It was hard, really, to keep herself conscious when all she wanted was to lean down and sleep off her pain.

 

“I went for a walk… there was a seal…” Sienna shuddered, remembering how the selkie had shed his skin, “I slipped… I fell and he took me out of the water…” her voice was slurry and she had trouble forming a longer sentence through the haze.  What was she saying?  Why was she talking about her encounter?

 

“Had an encounter with one of the merfolk, didn’t you?” Mr. Riley joked as he entered the car park.  Sienna’s eyes opened wide and fear made her go pale.

 

“Just a man… a tourist, most likely,” she told them, trying to cover up her story.

 

“Stop teasing her!  And help me get her out of the car,” Mrs. Riley told him as she opened the door and pulled Sienna closer.

 

She climbed out of the car with their help and they walked her into the clinic, so a doctor could look at her.

 

* * *

 

“You’re a fool,” Uinen told him with a smirk.

 

“Of course I am, I believed that fact had been established millennia ago.” He told her as he tried to focus on the information she was giving him.

 

“No!  I don’t mean your usual fool!” she told him and her smirk turned into a smile, “I mean you are a fool in love,”

 

He snorted and grinned at her, “No, I am not.  Yes, she’d make a marvelous mischievous memory, but she’s not for the taking… certainly not for the keeping.”

 

She raised an eyebrow and he winced. “Erase that evil smile of your face!  There’s nothing there for you to go gossiping to Ulmo about.  Just tell me what it was you found that needs my attention.”

 

Uinen shook her head but continued her explanation with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

A week later, Sienna walked down to the beach taking her time and counting her steps.  After walking up to the beach with no one around, she was fairly certain it had all been a hallucination. 

 

She had fallen down and hurt her head, after all. The doctor had checked her and sent her to Galway to get further examined.  They had taken x-rays and checked her brain, and everything seemed to be in order.  The doctor at the hospital told her it was nothing to worry about.  There would be no lasting damage.  She had not even needed stitches in her forehead.  

 

They had only given her some pain killers in case her head hurt again and cleaned the wound with disinfectant.

 

Her grandmother had driven her to the city in her tiny red car and they had taken advantage of the trip to window-shop and have lunch.

 

She stood on the sand for a few seconds, trying to decide whether to return to her car or move forward to the rocks. She took a deep breath and decided to face whatever it was she had seen on this beach. Taking one step after the other, she approached rocks and stared at the ocean.

 

A few seconds passed while surveyed the beach and then a minute and then another.

 

There was nothing there.

 

It all had been a hallucination.

 

He was not real.

 

She had imagined it all.

 

She felt relief flooding through her body and her knees began to shake.  She had not known just what a heavy burden it had been over her shoulders.  Her hands grasped her knees and sobs mixed with laughter escaped her throat.  She was almost crying at the emotions inside of her.

 

Of course, he had not existed. 

 

He had just been a figment of her imagination. 

 

She must have dreamed it all.

 

She must have just tripped on her way back to the beach and imagined the whole thing.

 

Oh, good God, thank you for small mercies.

 

“What amuses you so?” a soft male voice asked behind her and she felt a glacier cold seeping in her bones… that voice… his voice...

 

Oh, shit!

 

She turned around slowly, keeping her eyes on the ground, unwilling to look up and see a creature that had changed her whole perception of the world by doing nothing more than showing himself to her.  _How could this be possible?  He should not even exist! How…?_

 

She stared at him frozen in place as he approached her.

 

“It has healed well,” he whispered, running his fingers over the bump on her forehead with infinite tenderness.

 

Her eyes jumped to his face and she felt a tight knot in her stomach. He should not be real, but he was… and there was no way on earth that she could deny it.  Her heart began to beat faster and faster, and she could not tear her eyes away from his, grey like the sky before a storm.

 

“What are you?”

 

He huffed and grinned, “I am a selkie… what else would I be?”

 

Sienna reached out to touch him but stopped before making contact with his skin.  She felt that something would break if she touched him… which was absurd, because she could feel his fingers against her forehead, combing through her hair. It was just that the idea of reaching out and touching him… felt like admitting that the world was not the place the thought it was.

 

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had never been a coward, and now it was not the time to start.

 

She opened her eyes and found him staring expectantly at her.  

 

They were standing close, really close. She would not even have to take a step forward if she wanted to touch him. She raised her hand tentatively and placed it gently over his forearm.  His skin was soft and warm, and it had a velvet like texture to it.  Her fingers ghosted softly over his skin, reaching higher and higher up his arm.  She could feel his muscles flexing under her touch and marveled at the strength that was hiding under his casual stance.  He had to be quare strong… a soft blush appeared on her cheeks when she remembered how he had lifted her on their first encounter as if she weighed nothing. 

 

Her fingers continued up to his shoulder, wide and strong as his arm.

 

He was beautiful, but there was nothing feminine about him.

 

“This isn’t real!” She gasped and took a few steps back. “Is it?  Please, tell me this is just one big prank and that your friends are recording this for YouTube.”

 

He raised his eyebrows and stared at her, speechless at her reaction. What was she going on about?

 

“I assure you, that is not the case.” He answered, endlessly amused at how nervous she was.  She clearly was desperate to deny his existence.

 

Sienna took a step back and then another, running her hand through her hair. “So this is the real thing, then?”

 

“It is,” he answered, holding back laughter, “You have touched me yourself.  Why do you doubt?”

 

 _Why indeed?_ She wondered.  Because according to the logic of her world, he was not meant to exist, let alone show himself to her.

 

“Why are you here?” Sienna whispered, “Why did you show yourself to me?”

 

“You were sad… you were lonely” he shrugged, “I could not get away when you were feeling that.”

 

“Is that it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Yes,” he answered with a grin.

 

Sienna looked away and then back at him. She was having trouble accepting the fact that she was in front of a mythical creature, but at the same time, there was no way she could deny what he was.  The fact that she could not help to return his smiles whenever he grinned at her only made her more nervous.

 

“Is this something you do often?  Showing yourself to random people on the beach when they are at their lowest?” she asked and he snorted.

 

“No!” he began to laugh, “Damn no!  In fact, the fewer people who see me take off my skin, the better.  You, humans, have done crazy stuff to things that are outside your comprehension.”

 

Sienna nodded slowly, acknowledging the truth of what he had just told her.   Yes, governments were not keen on letting lifeforms they could not control roam freely.  The idea of someone capturing him to make experiments and study him made her nauseous. 

 

Her whole body rebelled at the very thought of sharing his existence with anyone… of letting harm come to him.

 

“I’m sorry?” she whispered and he winced.

 

“Not your fault, just stating a fact,” he answered and then took a step towards her. “If you were so frightened, why did you return to my beach?”

 

“I wanted to make sure you were not real.” She answered, laughing and blushing, “Should have known, with the way things have been for me lately, that I would be mistaken.  It’s just my luck.”

 

Her answer made him laugh and the blush on her cheeks grew darker.  He liked that look on her, made him want to be around, make her laugh and blush some more.  A tugging feeling in his chest erased all traces of good humor.  Something was near, he could tell, something evil.

 

“I must leave,” he told her and she nodded.

 

“So do I,” she looked at the setting sun.

 

He took a step back and then stopped to look at her, “Make me a promise.  Don’t get in the water after dark.”

 

Her eyes opened wide in surprise, “Why?”

 

“I’m not the only thing down there.  Don’t get caught in the crossfire.  Don’t swim in the sea after dark. Promise me!” he ordered and all she could do was nod and accept his order.  If there was a selkie on the beach, who could tell what other things were waiting in the water?

 

No, she was not taking that risk, thank you very much.

 

“Can I see you ever again?” She asked her voice barely above a whisper.

 

“I will be here on the morrow,” he promised with a smile.

 

Sienna nodded and bit her lip, “I’ll see you, then, tomorrow.”

 

He nodded and turned around, getting closer to the water.

 

“What is your name?” she asked, as an afterthought.

 

He did not turn around or stopped, “What is yours?”

 

“I’m Sienna” she answered, pondering whether to follow him or not. “Your name, please?”

 

He did not answer before grasping his skin from the stone and running back into the sea.  Sienna ran her fingers through her hair before running in the opposite direction, looking back into the sea every few seconds. Even when she could see no further trace of him, her heart was beating fast.

 

For the first time in months, she had something to look forward to.

 

She climbed the steps to the car park fast and her hands were shaking as she opened the door and climbed into her car.  A burst of nervous laughter escaped her lips as a strange idea popped in her mind.  

 

Was this a date?


End file.
